Most of their training is done while working for an employer who helps the apprentices learn their trade or profession, in exchange for their continued labour for an agreed period after they have achieved measurable competencies.
Apprentices' families would sometimes pay a "premium" or fee to the craftsman and the contract would usually be recorded in a written indenture.
These parish apprenticeships, which could be created with the assent of two Justices of the Peace, supplied apprentices for occupations of lower status such as farm labouring, brickmaking and menial household service.
[citation needed] The mainstay of training in industry has been the apprenticeship system (combining academic and practice), and the main concern has been to avoid skill shortages in traditionally skilled occupations and higher technician and engineering professionals, e.g., through the UK Industry Training Boards (ITBs) set up under the 1964 Act.
[10] Since the 1950s, the UK high technology industry (Aerospace, Nuclear, Oil & Gas, Automotive, Telecommunications, Power Generation and Distribution etc.)
trained its higher technicians and professional engineers via the traditional indentured apprenticeship system of learning – usually a 4–6 year process from age 16–21.
Often referred to as the "Golden Age" of work and employment for bright young people, the traditional technical apprenticeship framework was open to young people who had a minimum of 4 GCE O-Levels to enroll in an Ordinary National Certificate or Diploma (ONC, OND) or a City & Guilds engineering technician course.
For entrance into the higher technical engineering apprenticeships, GCE O-Levels had to include Mathematics, Physics, and English language.
HNC and HND were broadly equivalent to subjects in the first year of a bachelor's degree in engineering but not studied to the same intensity or mathematical depth.
The City and Guilds of London Institute the forerunner of Imperial College engineering school has been offering vocational education through apprenticeships since the 1870s from basic craft skills (mechanic, hairdresser, chef, plumbing, carpentry, bricklaying, etc.)
Apprenticeship training was enabled by linking industry with local technical colleges and professional engineering institutions.
The apprenticeship framework offered a clear pathway and competency outcomes that addressed the issues facing the industry sector and specific companies.
The system provided young people with an alternative to staying in full-time education post- 16/18 to gain purely academic qualifications without work-based learning.
The apprenticeship system of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s provided the necessary preparation for young people to qualify as a Craft trade (Machinist, Toolmaker, Fitter, Plumber, Welder, Mechanic, Millwright etc.
and enabled a path to a fully qualified Chartered Engineer in a specific discipline (Mechanical, Electrical, Civil, Aeronautical, Chemical, Building, Structural, Manufacturing etc.).
[11] The system allowed young people to find their level and still achieve milestones along the path from apprenticeship into higher education via a polytechnic or university.
The system was effective; industry was assured of a supply of practically educated and work-skilled staff, local technical colleges offered industry relevant courses that had a high measure of academic content and an apprentice was prepared for professional life or higher education by the age of 21.
Becoming a chartered engineer via the apprenticeship route normally involved 10 – 12 years of academic and vocational training at a combination of an employer, college of further education and/or university.
[12] The current scheme extends beyond manufacturing and high technology industry to parts of the service sector with no apprenticeship tradition.
Providers are usually private training companies but might also be further education colleges, voluntary sector organisations, Chambers of Commerce or employers themselves.
[citation needed] The UK government has implemented an apprenticeship structure which in many ways resembles the traditional architecture of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.
Learners start at a level which reflects their current qualifications and the opportunities available in the sector of interest: Intermediate Apprenticeship (Level 2; equivalent to five good GCSE passes): provides learners with the skills and qualifications for their chosen career and allow entry (if desired) to an Advanced Apprenticeship.
To be accepted learners need to be enthusiastic, keen to learn and have a reasonable standard of education; most employers require applicants to have two or more GCSEs (A*-C), including English and Maths.
[20][21] In industries where self-employment or unpaid employment are the typical form of work, an "alternative English apprenticeship" may be used (in England).
[26] An earlier version of this guidance limited the obligation to major construction and infrastructure projects with capital values in excess of £50m.